Athletic shirt and method of making the same



Aug. 9, 1938. s. NQFRIEDLAND ATHLETIC SHIRT'ANT) METHOD OIV MAKING THE SAME' Filed Jan. 20, 1938 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UN'ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ATHLETIC SHIRT AND METHOD F MAKING THE SAME v I Samuel N. Friedland, Rochester, N. Y., assigner to Champion Knitwear Company, Inc., Rochester, N. Y.

Application January 20, 1938, Serial No. 185,984

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-113) 'I'his invention relates to improvements in the method of making garments generally, and the provision of a garment construction more particularly designed for use in athletics and popu- 5 larly known as sweat shirts and jerseys.

seams as a result of heavy wear' and rough :usage which takes place in the more strenuous sports.

In forming sweat shirts and jerseys it has also been the conventional practice to make the body piece with the wales or ribs running lengthwise 5 Heretofore it has been the general practice in therein so that the maximum stretch occurs various methods of manufacturing the convenabout the body. This, of course, is adequate for tional sweat shirt or jersey to make the same of stretching in that portion of the body which lies at least four pieces, namely, the front and back below the arm and shoulders, but it has been pieces comprising the body and a separat pieclele foitllic thtattthits 1airrangemeiiit does iitzlpglvigdfor 10 for each sleeve. In the fabrication of t e we su cen s re c ng in an aroun e o ers known slip-on or slip-over type of athletic shirt, as required in a number of important uses oi' the body is generally formed of the front and such garments. For example, in the sport of back pieces which are sewed together in seams football, it is weil known that the players are extending across the shoulders and along the two equipped with shoulder pads which are worn if; sides to which are stitched the separate Vsleeves underneath the sweat Shirt or jersey. These by further seams. Thus, such garment construc- Shoulder Dads are usually quite bulky and when tions require a number of seams which are disit iS necessary t0 Wear a Sweat Shirt 0r jersey posed not only along the shoulders 0f the garment, over such shoulder pads, there is little provision but also at the arm pits and the other points for teinessary addld srtrrreitsehing which is re- 20 at which the sleeves are attached to the body; fluire n e garmen. condition neces- It is well known that due to the continuous Serily results irr discomfort to the wearer and. movement of the arms of the wearer, the greatquite often. So retards freedom of movement in est strain in the use of any such garment takes tigre atrms aad shoulders als to cause a detrimental lace in the seams in and around the arm pits e eC 0n e p ailing a ility of the individual. 25 5nd shoulders, and under such strain, the seams And this Obleetlonable binding about the Shoulnaturally tend to split and come apart all too del'S and arms iS Particularly evident whena readily, not only causing the garment to lose its garment 1S Worn after laundering when it shape, but also limiting its period of usefulness naturally shrinks to a size smaller than its initial by reason of the inevitable rips, tears and the Character- 30 like, which resun. In order te overcome this It 1S therefore afurther primary object of this tendency of the seams to split, various construclrtlventtiion ito pxizlnidlrlle; weaiishil'tiflliersey con;l

n such as s ecial seam structures and rein- S fue 0n n W C a Por 0n 0 e germen .s'cd stitchingphave been resorted to, but even Comprising the ShOulderS and arm Pits iS Capable with any such arrangement, the garments here.. of any'reasonable stretching requirement and in 3;, more available to the trede have been inade- Which the Stretching taking place in the body quate and objectionable in that, under continuortion is ucth i151 tobermifl? glie garment 112:0 conous, every day use, the period of worthwhile rg'm smggi 0b, et tgl; 2 etjlvealern car- 4 rvice is less than a few weeks of a season, ng ou s o Jee s Wen u m contemplates 40 se h d hi, athletic the provision of a sweat shirt or Jersey. construcu which 0f COUTS@ Works a af s p on tion in which the knitted courses, ribs, or Wales Organizations having limited funds for equip' of the fabric are `disposed substantially horizon ment. tally throughout the completed form of shirt in- It is therefore a Primary ObJeCP 0f this inven' cluding the shoulders and sleeves, together with tion to provide a sweat shirtor Jersey construcenlarged arm pit portions whereby the garment 45 tion which overcomes all the lnsuiciencies of the is capable of any required Stretching in and prior art structures and comprises an exceptionaround the Shoulders thus providing for maxi.. ally StrOng and durable garment. inexpensively mum comfort and freedom of `movement of the and simply manufactured from a single, integral wearer either with or without auxiliary equippiece of fabric (trimmings such as collars, cuffs, ment such as shoulder pads, and the like. 50

etc; excepted) and requiring only a minimum number ot' seams which are substantially unexposed and so positioned at the points of greatest strain that the completed garment is capable of `withstanding rips, tears and splitting of the A further object of the invention contemplates the provision of a method for making a sweat shirt, jersey or the like in an unusually inexpensive and expeditious manner and in which the garment produced is most comfortable and serviceable to the wearer, unusually durable, and is extremely' simple in construction facilitating manufacture thereof and otherwise reducing the costs of production of such garments to a minimum.

A still further object of. the invention is for the provision of a garment formed in a one piece body and sleeve arrangement in which the wales or knitted courses' are disposed substantially horizontally throughout and comprises seamless shoulders and enlarged arm pits suitably designed to provide for any necessary stretching therein together with the shoulder portions, and lengthwise of the body portion thereof to conform snugly to the body of the wearer.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention has for a more specific object the method of making an entire sweat shirt or jersey, trimmings excepted, of an integral piece of tubular material, with the wales or ribs disposed substantially horizontally throughout in a procedure consisting of alternately reverse cuttings of the garment pattern whereby substantially the entire tube is utilized with very little waste, and with the body of the garment blank thus formed from the tube provided in its initial desired configuration together with all other parts of the -garment including the sleeves, also provided from the tube without destroying the character of the fabric of which the garment is formed.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art as a description thereof proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment now in extensive use and which has been found in practice to give most satisfactory and reliable results.

Fig. 1 represents a section of tubular knitted fabric with the ribs or knitted courses thereof running longitudinally and illustrating in general, the method of cutting the desired garment patterns from a minimum of material in alternately reverse blanks such that the wales are disposed substantially horizontally throughout in the one piece sleeve and body members thus obtained;

Figs. 2, 4 and 5 indicate the several steps in the method for completing the improved garment construction, Fig. 2 illustrating, on an enlarged scale, a garment blank obtained by the cutting operation of Fig. 1 with the lower edge thereof suitably slit to provide the necessary body opening; v

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows and showing Ythe blank as slit along the lower edge portion thereof in providing the body opening;

Fig. 4 indicates the step in the method by which the garment is stitched in singlecontinuous seams, represented by dotted lines, to complete the sleeves and body portion;

Fig. 5 illustrates the inal step in finishing the garment' comprising the application of sleeve cuis, waistband and neckband or collar; and,

Fig. 6 isa front view of a completed sweat shirt made in 'accordance with the invention and is intended to illustrate the advantageous stretching characteristics of the improved garment by reason of the horizontal Wale construction and enlarged arm pit portions providing for greater freedom of movement in and around the shoulders and arms, with the body portion thereof conforming closely to the body of the wearer.

In any garment of the class described intended for use, more particularly, in athletics and training quarters, it is well known that Satisfactory service conditions require that the garment shall not encumber the wearer in the least and should permit perfect freedom of movement of the arms, shoulders and head. However, in providing for such freedom of movement, it is also absolutely essential that the garment snugly t the body of the wearer not only from the standpoint of appearance, but also because of the fact that loose hanging body portions become a nuisance resulting in extreme discomfort and annoyance to the wearer and otherwise present a means which may possibly become entangled with the arms or legs of another player in close quarters causing p ossible injury. Another example of this disadvantage is seen in the sport of football where it is quite obvious that a loose hanging body portion on a jersey worn by a player running with the ball, aiords an unnecessary advantage to an opponent who, of course, is privileged to grasp and clutch such loose hanging body portion to halt the runner, and this naturally requires considerably less skill and ability than the more usual, necessary method of tackling with the arms and shoulders.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views thereof, it will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 1, that in the method of making a garment in accordance with the present invention, a tube I of knitted fabric is provided having its knitted courses, ribs or wales extending lengthwise thereof, as shown. The diameter of the tube is such as to more or less approximate the desired distance from the waist to the neck' and shoulders in any selected size garment; and due to the elasticity of the fabric any diameter of tubular material will be satis- `factory for the construction of several sizes of garments, so that an entire group of sizes may be made up by comparatively few cutting appliances and other manufacturing apparatus. 'I'he tube of material thus provided is then cut generally transversely in a suitable patternv comprising alternately reverse garment outlines so arranged that the sleeve portion of a blank is obtained from the material adjacent the body portion of the next succeeding blank. Accordingly, by arranging the cutting of the material in opposite overlapping or dovetailing relation, the garment blanks, each including both the body and sleeves of the garment, may be formed in an integral piece of fabric with very little wastage of material and therefore from a minimum of material with the wales thereof disposed substantially horizontally throughout in every instance.

An essential feature of the garment blank thus obtained is the provision of enlarged arm pit portions by cutting the body and sleeves of each garment along intersecting lines I2, I3, Fig. 1, in what may be termed an obtuse angle forming the desired shape o f the garment. As shown, this cutting arrangement results in an intermediate section of material Il between adjacent garment blanks; this small section of material Il is the only wastage involved in the instant method and`when removed together with cut-out I forming the neck opening, provides a one piece blank in which the knitted courses or wales are disposed substantially horizontally throughout the body portion and sleeves. And as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a complete blank Il thus obtained comprises superposed front and back body portions 20, 2| including sleeves 22, 23 and enlarged arm pit portions 24, 25 formed all in one piece and provided with the neck opening 28.

In the process of completing the garment, the

lower edge portion of the body is suitably severed as indicated by the undulated line 21, Fig. 2, and stitched along the side edges I2 of the body and edges I3 at the undersides of the sleeves in continuous seams as indicated by dotted lines 28, 29, Fig. 4. This severing of the lower edge of the body may, of course, be accomplished either before or after the blank is sewed in said seams 28, 29, and since such seams are all that is necessary to complete the sleeves and body portions, it will be appreciated that the process involved is extremely simple, which, of course, facilitates manufacture, and at the same time provides a garment having seamless shoulders which is most important in that the wearing qualities of the garment are considerably increased, it being well known that like garments having separate, inset sleeves are weakest at the points where the sleeves are attached to the body.

'I'he garment blank thus seamed and shaped is accordingly prepared for the finishing operation comprising the application of the trimmings which, as indicated in Fig. 5, may comprise sleeve cuffs 30, waistband 3l and a collar or neckband 32 which may include gussets 33, or the like, providing for the desired amount of give and stretching across the shoulders and otherwise increasing the amount of give of the neck opening to facilitate putting on or taking oil' of the garment.

While in the illustration of the accompanying drawing separate cuffs are shown, it is to be understood that the presence of such cuis is a matter of choice and that the present invention is not limited to such construction since a suitable cuff may be provided from an added length on the sleeve which is flded back upon itself and stitched in such folded relation. Likewise, the use of a separate waistband may be dispensed with by providing an added length to the lower edge of the body portion which may be then folded back upon itself and stitched together with pleats, or the like, for suitably shaping and reducing the circumference of the garment in providing for a snug close fit around the body of the wearer.

` As previously pointed out, a primary object of the instant invention is the provision of a garment construction in which the knitted courses or wales are disposed substantially horizontally throughout the sleeves and body portion thereof together with especially designed, enlarged arm pit portions 24, 25. As illustrated in Fig. 6, this arrangement permits the desired amount of give and required stretching in and around the shoulders and under the arms from the initial unstretched configuration of the garment, represented in broken lines, to the stretched condition thereof, indicated by the full lines. At the same time, the body portion is readily capable of lengthwise stretching and by the reason of the said horizontal disposition of the wales, has the most desirable tendency of reducing in circumference thereby conforming more snugly to the tage which has been found to make such garments `so much more satisfactory and desirable from ,a practical standpoint oiv better wearing qualities and characteristics than the more common type of sweat shirts or jerseys, that they have been readily adopted by the trade and are now in extensive use as standard equipment. In washing the ordinary sweat shirt having vertical wales in the body portion thereof, it is well known that due to shrinkage. the garment necessarily becomes much shorter than its original over-all length with the result that the waistband shrinks up to such extent as to be disposed sometimes around the ribs of the wearer and cannot be stretched downward to compensate for such shrinkage and ilt properly about the waist of the wearer without causing tightening in the shoulders and arms of the garment and otherwise setting up excessive strain not only in the fibres thereof but also the seams which, of course, too frequently results in objectionable rips, tears and splitting of the seams. In the sweat shirt or jersey construction of the instant invention, however, by reason of the horizontal dispositionA of the wales throughout the body portion thereof, the garment is capable of ready'lengthwise stretching after any number of washing or cleaning operations to the extent that any undesirable, improper fit as a result of shrinkage may be readily overcome, yet the shirt is retained of its original shape and form and otherwise closely and snugly fits the body of the wearer after any such lengthwise stretching as desired or neces- Sary.

It will be also understood that the garment construction of the instant invention is excep` tionally strong and durable, is capable of greatly increased wearing qualities and aiords a much longer period of service than the more common type of athletic shirt having inset sleeves, these features being the advantageous ,results necessarily obtained by the complete elimination of seams where the sleeves meet the body portion and the substantially unexposed-disposition of the seams along the underside of the sleeves where they are subject to less strain and considerably less damaging wear when used in sports involving bodily contact such as football, lacrosse, ice hockey, etc.

It will be further appreciated that aside from these practical advantages secured in the making of garments in accordance with the invention, there is the further distinct advantage of the greatly enhanced appearance of a garment of this kind which has been found to render the same much more preferred than the ordinary Well known form of sweat shirt or jersey.

While the invention has been described in detail with a specific example of the garment construction and the method of, making the same, such example is illustrative only, since it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications within the spirit and scope of. the invention may be constructed without departing from the teachings or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equiv alency of the claims are therefore intended Yto be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by the United States letters Patent, is:

l. The method of making athletic shirts and the like which comprises, providing a length ot material in the form of a tube having a diameter approximating the desired over-all dimension from the neck to the waist of a selected size garment, cutting said tube generally transversely in a pattern of alternately reversed garment blanks each comprising iront and back pieces forming the body and sleeves in an integral piece of fabric, severing a garment blank thus obtained along the lower edge of the body portion thereby providing the body opening, and uniting saidy front and back pieces by seams extending along the sides of the body and undersides of the sleeves.

2. The method of making athletic shirts and the like which comprises, providing a tube of knitted fabric in which the knitted courses run lengthwise thereof, cutting said tube generally transversely in a pattern of alternately reversed garment blanks each comprising front and back pieces forming the body and sleeves in an integral piece of fabric, severing a garment blank thus obtained along the lower edge of the body portion thereby providing the body opening, and uniting said front and back pieces by seams extending along the sides of the body and undersides of the sleeves such that the knitted courses are disposed substantially horizontally throughout the body and sleeves in the completed form of the garment.

3. .The method of making athletic shirts from tubular material which comprises, providing a tube of knitted fabric in which the knitted courses run lengthwise thereof and which has a diameter approximating the desired over-all dimension from the neck to the Waist of a selected size garment, cutting said tube generally transversely in a pattern of alternately reversed garment blanks each comprising integral front and back pieces provided with a neck opening and forming the 5 body and sleeves of the entire garment, severing a. garment blank thus obtained along the lower edge of the body lportion thereby providing the body opening, and uniting said front and back pieces by seams extending along the sides of the body l0 andy undersides of the sleeves such that the knitted courses are disposed substantially horizontally throughout the body and sleeves in the completed form of the garment.

4. An athletic shirt of the class described comprising, an integral section of knitted material providing the front and back pieces including the sleeves of the garment, said front and back pieces being provided with a neck opening and formed to include a waist length body portion and tapering sleeves with the wales thereof disposed substantially horizontally throughout the body portion and. across the shoulders, said front and back pieces being united by seams at the sides of the body portion and along the undersides of and around the shoulders, the horizontal Wale construction in the remainder of the body portion causing the same to reduce in circumference on being stretched longitudinally and thereby closely iit the body of the wearer in use.

SAMUEL N. FRIEDLAND. 

